The IAFA Under 20 Selection had a historic 22-20 win against the Greendell Falcons of Canada in a challenge game played at Westmanstown last night. This marks the first time in the history of the sport that an Irish team has defeated a highly rated team from North America. The IAFA U20 Selection was comprised of young players from IAFL teams, many from the emerging squads who competed in IAFL-1 over the past number of months. The Greendell Falcons  team comprised of a mixture of players from their high school (16-18) and college (18-22) aged squads.

This game was marked by an excellent performance by the U20s defence which created four crucial turnovers including 2 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries. The Falcons started well on offense, driving downfield into scoring range on their first possession. However, Dublin Rebels cornerback Senan O’Mahony intercepted a Falcons pass and returned it 80 yards for the games opening touchdown. A 2 point conversion gave the Irish an early 8-0 lead. Greendell responded straight away, moving the ball effectively on the ground and then scoring on a running play to make the score 8-6. Later on in the quarter, the Irish recovered a fumble deep inside the Greendell half, but failed to punch in the ball for a score. The U20s next big defensive play came early in the second quarter when they recovered another Falcons fumble, this time close to midfield. U20s quarterback , Dan Finnamore of Drogheda picked up a first down on the ground and shortly afterwards, North Kildare running back Sean Leamy scored a 25yd touchdown run to give the Irish a 14-6 lead.

The play that sealed the win for the Irish came later in the second quarter, when linebacker Luke Ivers of the West Dublin Rhinos got the U20s second key interception and returned it for a touchdown. Another two point conversion gave the Irish a surprising 22-6 lead close to halftime.

The start of the second half was delayed due to a Greendell player having to be transported to hospital after picking up a serious knee injury on the last play of the second quarter. When it resumed, the U20s faced an aerial onslaught from the Falcons who now had to chase the game. Indeed, Greendell attempted 37 passed in total during the half. On offense, the U20s tried to control the clock by keeping the ball on the ground. The aerial power of the Falcons soon showed with them scoring two passing touchdowns to bring the game back to 22-20 in favour of the Irish. However, the Irish offense did enough to take some time off the clock and the defense put up sufficient resistance to keep the score down and give the Irish an unexpected 22-20 victory.

After the game, the U20s coach squad, led by John Judge, praised the work that the players and coaching squad did during the short time that they have been together.

The Greendell Falcons have a couple of days rest before facing the Bristol Academy Pride in the Gathering Bowl at Tallaght Stadium on Saturday, kick-off 7pm. The Pride is the UKs best U19 club and play in the European US High School league, where they ranked in the top 4 in 2012. This game is expected to attract a large crowd – tickets are free of charge and can be obtained via the link on this website.

The Team Ireland squad to compete in the 2013 European Flag Football Championships was announced today. The 12 man squad was chosen from in excess of 30 players who attended the recent trials/training sessions and includes players from 5 clubs.

Conor Brennan – Mullingar Minotaurs.

Dermot Corroon – Mullingar Minotaurs.

Sean Douglas – Terenure Titans.

Ted Elston – South Kildare Soldiers.

Wil Elston – South Kildare Soldiers.

Joe Gray – Terenure Titans.

Connor McCarthy – South Kildare Soliders.

Darragh Moran – Edenderry Eagles.

Gary Nolan – Mullingar Minotaurs.

Brian O’Donnell – Edenderry Eagles.

Gary Sommerville – Dublin Rebels.

Eoin Whelan – South Kildare Soldiers. 

Head Coach – Ken Farrell.

 The EFAF 2013 European Championships are due to take place in Pesaro, Italy from 22-24^th September. The tournament line-up is as follows:

Austria
Denmark
France
Germany
Great Britain
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Switzerland

37 players representing 11 teams attended trials for the Ireland Senior Flag Team over the past 2 weeks. Trialists included both specialist flag football players and players with IAFL experience who also play flag. Head Coach Ken Farrell now has the difficult task of chosing the final squad of 12 players who will represent Ireland at the European Championships in Italy in September.

The EFAF 2013 European Championships are due to take place in Pesaro, Italy from 22-24^th September. The tournament line-up is as follows:

Austria
Denmark
France
Germany
Great Britain
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Netherlands
Switzerland

Ireland last entered a team in 2009 when it hosted the Championships in Belfast. Italy has good memories for Irish flag football – the Irish Junior squad finished 2^nd in the 2010 Junior European Championships, which was the last time a major flag tournament was hosted by the Italian Federation.

Consideration is being given to entering a team in the upcoming European Senior Flag Football Championshios in Italy next September.

Any players interested in trying out for Team Ireland should contact Ken Farrell at ken@americanfootball.ie

Age limit is 16 and over and consideration is being given to entering both mens and womens teams.

The Irish Flag Football Association is holding try-outs for the Team Ireland flag football teams on the first two weekends in June. Team Ireland hopes to field 3 x teams in the upcoming European Junior Flag Championships. Players are being sought for the following teams:

U13 Boys – born on or after 1st January 1999.

U13 Girls – born on or after 1st January 1999.

U15 Boys – born on or after 1st January 1997.

Tryouts will take place as follows:

Saturday 2nd June (5:30pm) – Edenderry.

Saturday 9th June (3:30pm) – Rathangan.

Any interested players or parents of players should contact Ken Farrell – ken@americanfootball.ie for further details.

The Team Ireland Under 13’s squad had a very impressive debut in the European Flag Football Championship Finals, played in Rome, Italy over the weekend of 17th to 19th September. The team finished in second place overall, after reaching the Final, where they were defeated by reigning Champions, the Netherlands.

The Irish team got off to a very impressive start in the league stage of the competition with comprehensive victories over Austria and Germany on Saturday morning. The team then lost to Switzerland on Saturday afternoon.  On Sunday morning, they were involved in two close games – losing to host country Italy by only 1 point and then beating the Netherlands by 1 point.  Three wins qualified the team for the Semis.

Team Ireland had a comfortable 33-24 victory over Austria in the Semi-final, but then lost by 39-13 to the Netherlands in the Grand Final.

The players representing Ireland were selected from the schools currently participating in the Schools Flag Football programme underway in the Midlands.  This is the first time that an Irish underage flag football team contested a European finals. All of the players in the squad were introduced to the sport for the firts time through the Schools Flag programme. The team is being coached by Ken Farrell and Aidan Waters, both of whom are involved in the programme.  What is also notable, is that the Irish squad was the youngest in the competition. As the players were selected from Primary Schools, the majority are only 11 or 12 years old and so will still qualify for U13 level next year.

All games were played in Rome’s Stadio Pasquale Giannattasio.

The tournament website is: http://www.euroflagrome2010.com

Team Ireland Results:

Saturday 18th:

Ireland 32 -14 Austria

Ireland 49-19 Germany

Ireland 0-13 Switzerland.

Sunday 19th:

Ireland 26-27 Italy

Ireland 20-19 Netherlands.

Semi-Final:

Ireland 33-24 Austria

Final:

Ireland 13-39 Netherlands.

 

The Team Ireland Under 13 Flag Football team is competing in the European Junior Flag Championships taking place in Rome, Italy over the weekend of 17^th to 19^th September.

The players representing Ireland have been selected from the schools currently participating in the Schools Flag Football programme underway in the Midlands. This is the first time that an Irish underage flag football team will contest a European finals. The team is being coached by Ken Farrell and Aidan Waters, both of whom are involved in the Schools Flag Football programme.

The other participants in the U13 category are Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands and host country, Italy. Team Ireland will play Austria, Germany and Switzerland on Saturday 18^th and Netherlands and Italy on Sunday 19^th. The top teams in the league stage will qualify for the final on Sunday afternoon.

All games are taking place in Rome’s Stadio Pasquale Giannattasio.

The tournament website is: http://www.euroflagrome2010.com

Results of Team Ireland’s games will be posted on this site.

 

Team Ireland 8-35 Coventry Cassidy Jets
Venue: Butts Arena, Coventry

Team Ireland put in their best performance of recent years against the semi-pro Coventry Jets team in Celtic Classic III, played in Coventry on Sunday 15th October. The Jets are the current British Division 1A Champions and are unbeaten over the past 3 seasons. Their roster includes several Great Britain Internationals and players with professional experience. The Celtic Classic was sponsored by the Cassidy Group who also sponsor the Jets. Erin Wagner was Team Ireland’s MVP after making numerous tackles and picking up some first downs on the ground while rotating in on offense.

Ex-NFL Europe star, wide receiver Mark Cohen, was instrumental in the Jets victory, scoring two touchdowns and making several first down receptions. The other scorers include the Jets 2006 MVP, Jeremy Simms and running back Anthony Perkins. Perkins got the opening score of the game mid way through the first quarter after making a number of first down runs during the Jets drive. Team Ireland responded with an 80 yard drive with Simon Mackey, Chris Flinn and Erin Wagner picking up first downs in a long drive. Team Ireland got to the Jets 6 yard line, but good defensive play by the Jets just managed to keep them out of the end-zone. The Jets had two scoring drives in the second quarter. One was set up by a spectacular sideline catch by Cohen inside the Irish 5 yard line. Cohen also caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Tim Spaull after he and Team Ireland cornerback Willie Coyne both came down in the endzone with their hands on the ball. The Irish had another opportunity to score in the second quarter when quarterback Adam Devenney led them on another long drive into scoring range, picking up several first downs on the way. However, the Irish were again stopped by the Jets on fourth down.

The Team Ireland defence opened the third quarter strongly, making several tackles for losses. James Kay, Chris Weir, Erin Wagner, Glen Carr and Kenny Hudson all made tackles. However, the Jets got the ball in scoring range after recovering a fumble. Team Ireland nearly stopped the drive when Ross McCooey came close to making an interception, but the Jets managed to score a few plays later. Team Ireland continued to have a strong third quarter, moving the ball against a strong Coventry Jets defense which was led by Adrian Newey. The Irish appeared to get stronger as the game went on in spite of the Jets kept their star players such as Cohen, Newey a nd Simms on the field right the way through the fourth quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, with Conor Buggle now at quarterback, Team Ireland put together another drive and after getting first and goal, running back Sam Hodgins scored on an inside run. Simon Mackey got the two point conversion after hurdling over the Jets defensive line. The Team Ireland defense also came up with a turnover forcing a fumble which was recovered by Darragh Farrell. The Jets got their final score in the fourth quarter when GB Lions QB Tim Spaull threw a long touchdown pass to Jeremy Simms. Team Ireland caused another turnover and also got the ball in the endzone for an apparent score during the fourth quarter when Willie Coyne recovered a muffed punt and sprinted into the endzone, however, the officials ruled that the Jets returner never had full possession of the ball thus it could not be advanced, however the Irish retained the ball.

Team Ireland Head Coach Marcus Naylor was happy with the teams performance. The team, which was only selected a week earlier, played better than expected in spite of having a new coaching staff and new team management and very limited practice time.Team management were also impressed with the team’s friendly and well behaved attitude off the field. A rematch is being scheduled in Dublin in 2007.